Richard Quine

Richard Quine
Born	(1920-11-12)November 12, 1920 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide
Resting place	Westwood Memorial Park
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1933–1980
Spouse(s)	Susan Peters (m. 1943; div. 1948) Barbara Bushman (m. 1951; div. 1960) Fran Jeffries (m. 1965; div. 1970) Diana Balfour (m. 1977–89)
Children	3

Richard Quine (November 12, 1920 – June 10, 1989) was an American stage, film, and radio actor. He began acting as a child in radio, vaudeville and in stage productions before being signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in his early 20s. When his acting career began to wane after World War II, Quine began working as a film director. He later moved into producing and directing television. Quine directed several well known films including Bell Book and Candle (1958), The World of Suzie Wong (1960), Paris When It Sizzles (1964), How to Murder Your Wife (1965), and The Prisoner of Zenda.

Depressed over poor health, Quine died of a self inflicted gunshot wound in June 1989 at the age of 68.

Career

Born in Detroit, Quine's father was an actor. Quine's family moved to Los Angeles when he was six years old. As a child, he began working as a radio actor and became a minor radio star. He then appeared in vaudeville before moving on to stage roles. He made his film debut in the drama Cavalcade in 1933. After appearing in a few more minor film roles, including supporting roles in Jane Eyre (1934), and Little Men (1934), Quine left Los Angeles for New York City to return to stage acting. In 1939, Quine made his Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II stage musical Very Warm for May in 1939. The following year, he was cast as "Frank Lippencot" in the hit Broadway production of My Sister Eileen, starring Shirley Booth (Quine would reprise his role in the 1942 film version and wrote the screenplay for and directed the 1955 film version). His role in the stage version of My Sister Eileen led to Quine being signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Quine's first film for M-G-M was Babes on Broadway (1941), starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (Rooney and Quine had been friends since childhood). While at M-G-M, Quine also appeared in Tish (1942) and For Me and My Gal (1942).

During World War II, while still under contract for M-G-M, Quine served in the United States Coast Guard. After the war, Quine's acting career stalled and he was dropped by M-G-M. He and friend William Asher then decided to get into production and directing. The two set about adapting "Leather Gloves", a short story that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. The story was later adapted by another writer but Quine and Asher were hired to produce and direct the 1938 film version released by Columbia Pictures.

Quine directed his first solo effort, The Sunny Side of the Street, a musical comedy released in 1951. In the 1950s, Quine directed a number of features including So This Is Paris, Operation Mad Ball (1957), Bell, Book and Candle (1958), and It Happened to Jane (1959, which he also produced). Some of Quine's earlier projects from this time period, particularly Drive a Crooked Road and Pushover (both 1954), are regarded as classic examples of film noir. Also in the 1950s, Quine began directing television shows including General Electric Theater and The Ford Television Theatre. In 1955, Quine and Blake Edwards created The Mickey Rooney Show, an NBC sitcom starring Quine's childhood friend Mickey Rooney. The series was canceled after one season. Quine later became a frequent collaborator with Blake Edwards. He wrote the story for Edward's 1956 comedy film He Laughed Last and Edwards wrote the screenplay for Quine's 1962 film The Notorious Landlady. The two also wrote the screenplays for Sound Off (1952), Castle in the Air (1952), All Ashore (1953), Cruisin' Down the River (1953), Drive a Crooked Road (1954), Bring Your Smile Along (1955), My Sister Eileen (1955), and Operation Mad Ball (1957) together.

Quine continued his career directing and producing films and television in the 1960s. He directed Strangers When We Meet (1960), and The World of Suzie Wong (1960), Paris When It Sizzles (1964), How to Murder Your Wife (1965), Synanon (1966), Hotel (1967) and Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1967). In 1966, Quine produced The Jean Arthur Show, a sitcom that aired on CBS starring Jean Arthur. That series also lasted one season.

In addition to producing, directing and screenwriting, Quine was also a lyricist. He wrote the lyrics "Be Prepared", a song included in the film It Happened to Jane (1959) which he also produced and directed. In 1962, two songs written by Quine, "Going Steady With a Dream" and "Strangers When We Meet" (which was the theme to the 1960 film of the same name that Quine directed), for the film Don't Knock the Twist. Quine also wrote the theme song to his 1964 film Sex and the Single Girl.

In the 1970s, Quine directed three episodes of Peter Falk's Columbo, including "Dagger of the Mind", an episode set in Britain. He also worked on another, much less successful NBC Mystery Movie series, McCoy, reuniting him with star Tony Curtis who Quine directed in So This Is Paris and Sex and the Single Girl (1964). His final completed film as a director was for the 1979 film The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Peter Sellers. In 1979, Quine was hired to direct another Sellers' film The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980). Before the script was even completed, Quine was fired due to "creative differences" he had with Sellers.

Personal life

Quine was married four times and had three children. His first marriage was to actress Susan Peters. They were married on November 7, 1943 at Westwood Community Church in Los Angeles. On New Year's Day 1945, the couple were on a duck hunting trip when Peters dropped her rifle. The gun discharged, hitting Peters in the stomach. The bullet lodged in her spine leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. On April 17, 1946, the couple adopted a ten-month-old baby boy whom they named Timothy Richard Quine. They separated on March 1, 1948 and were divorced later that year. In October 1952, Peters died of a chronic kidney infection and bronchial pneumonia, both of which were hastened by dehydration and starvation because she had stopped eating and drinking in the last few weeks of her life.

In September 1951, Quine married Barbara Bushman, the granddaughter of actor Francis X. Bushman. The couple had two children before separating in May 1958. They were divorced in March 1960.

While Quine was separated from his second wife, he began dating actress Kim Novak whom he had previously directed in 1954's Pushover and 1958's Bell, Book and Candle. The two became engaged while working on their third film together Strangers When We Meet (1960), in 1959. They planned to marry when shooting completed on Strangers but Novak ended the relationship shortly before the film was completed. He later dated actresses Judy Holliday (whom he directed in 1956's Full of Life and The Solid Gold Cadillac) and Natalie Wood (whom he also directed in 1964's Sex and the Single Girl). While directing Sex and the Single Girl (1964), Quine met and began dating one of the film's stars Fran Jeffries. On January 4, 1965, they were married in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. The couple separated on June 10, 1968. In July 1969, Quine filed for divorce citing "extreme cruelty". Their divorce became final in December 1970.

In 1977, Quine married Diana Balfour. They remained married until Quine's death in 1989.

Death

After an extended period of depression and poor health, Quine shot himself in the head at his Los Angeles home on June 10, 1989. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center where he died at the age of 68. His remains are interred in the Room of Prayer columbarium at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1933	Cavalcade		Uncredited
1933	The World Changes	Richard, as a Boy	Uncredited
1933	Counsellor at Law	Richard Dwight, Jr.
1934	Jane Eyre	John Reed
1934	Dames	Unconfirmed role
1934	Wednesday's Child	Bobby's antagonistic buddy	Uncredited
1934	Little Men	Ned
1935	Life Returns	Mickey
1935	A Dog of Flanders	Nicky Duval
1935	Dinky	Jackie Shaw
1939	King of the Underworld	Medical student	Uncredited
1941	Babes on Broadway	Morton Hammond
1941	Tish	Theodore "Ted" Bowser
1942	My Sister Eileen	Frank Lippincott
1942	For Me and My Gal	Danny Hayden	Uncredited
1942	Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant	Dr. Dennis Lindsey
1942	Stand By for Action	Ensign Lindsay
1943	The Rear Gunner	Pilot with Sun Glasses	Uncredited
1943	We've Never Been Licked	Brad Craig	Alternative title: Fighting Command
1946	The Cockeyed Miracle	Howard Bankson	Alternative title: The Return of Mr. Griggs
1948	Words and Music	Ben Feiner, Jr.
1948	Leather Gloves	–	Director, producer
1948	Command Decision	Maj. George Rockton
1949	The Clay Pigeon	Ted Niles
1950	No Sad Songs for Me	Brownie
1950	Rookie Fireman	Johnny Truitt
1950	Foy Meets Girl	–	Director, short subject
1950	He's a Cockeyed Wonder	Actor in drive-in movie	Uncredited
1950	The Flying Missile	Amn. Hank Weber	Uncredited Alternative title: The Flying Fish
1951	The Awful Sleuth	–	Director, short subject
1951	Woo-Woo Blues	–	Director, short subject
1951	The Sunny Side of the Street	–	Director
1951	Purple Heart Diary	–	Director
1952	Sound Off	–	Writer, director
1952	Castle in the Air	Opening Narrator/Radio Announcer	Writer, director Alternative title: Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder
1953	All Ashore	–	Writer, director
1953	Siren of Bagdad	–	Director
1953	Cruisin' Down the River	–	Director
1954	Drive a Crooked Road	–	Writer (adaptation), director
1954	Pushover	–	Director
1954	So This Is Paris	–	Director
1955	Bring Your Smile Along	–	Writer (story)
1955	My Sister Eileen	–	Writer, director
1956	He Laughed Last	–	Writer (story)
1956	The Solid Gold Cadillac	–	Director
1956	Full of Life	–	Director
1957	Operation Mad Ball	–	Director
1958	Bell, Book and Candle	–	Director
1959	It Happened to Jane	–	Director, producer
1960	Strangers When We Meet	–	Director
1960	The World of Suzie Wong	–	Director
1960	The Wackiest Ship in the Army	Narrator
1962	The Notorious Landlady	–	Producer, director
1964	Paris When It Sizzles	–	Producer, director Alternative title: Together in Paris
1964	Sex and the Single Girl	–	Director
1965	How to Murder Your Wife	–	Director
1965	Synanon	–	Producer, director
1967	Hotel	–	Director
1967	Oh Dead, Poor Dad...	–	Director
1969	A Talent for Loving	–	Director Alternative title: Gun Crazy
1970	The Moonshine War	–	Director
1974	W	–	Director Alternative title: W is the Mark of Death
1979	The Prisoner of Zenda	–	Director
1980	The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu	–	Director (uncredited)

Television

Year	Title	Notes
1952-1954	The Ford Television Theatre	Director 3 episodes
1953	General Electric Theater	Director Episode: "Atomic Love"
1954	The Mickey Rooney Show	Creator 20 episodes
1966	The Jean Arthur Show	Producer 12 episodes
1972-1973	Columbo	Director 3 episodes
1973	Catch-22	Director Television movie
1974	Hec Ramsey	Director Episode: "Dead Heat"
1975	The Specialists	Director Television movie
1975	McCoy	Director 2 episodes
1978	Project U.F.O.	Director Episode: "Sighting 4001: The Washington D.C. Incident"

External links

• Richard Quine at the Internet Broadway Database
• Richard Quine at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Quine at the TCM Movie Database